Best of BS Opinion: Clarity for FDI, rising discom debt, and more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces of the day

First, the bad news. As migrant workers head for home and an immediate labour shortage looms for industries reopening their factories, the hiring outlook for the year ahead looks grim. A global manpower survey has shown that India’s net employment outlook for the July-September quarter is just 5 per cent, the lowest in 15 years. But here’s the good news – such as it is: India is among a group of four out of the 44 countries in the survey to project a hiring trend. Japan, China, and Taiwan are the others. All the same, this meagre growth leaves the country with the old problem of burgeoning unemployment and a new threat of destitution. As governments around the world scramble to cope with the fallout of the pandemic, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz analyses the various emergency measures and makes the potent point that poorly designed stimulus programmes are not just ineffective but potentially dangerous. Read his assessment here. Other views focus on the first virtual Indo-Australian summit, the prospect of Make in India for the solar power programme, foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and rising discom debt. Kanika Datta sums up the views.

The historic Modi-Morrison summit is a riposte to China’s bullying tactics but it is vital for India to follow up on the diplomatic gains by focusing on the economic pillar of its Indo-Pacific strategy, writes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran. Read it here
 

Confusion abounds in interpreting the press note imposing curbs on FDI from companies linked to the Chinese government. Urgent clarifications are needed to avoid controversy in the future, says the lead edit. Read it here

The Rs 90,000 crore liquidity support programme for discoms will help clear some of their dues to power producers, but it does not solve the deeper issue of structural and pricing reform that political dispensations are loathe to impose but are critical if discoms are not to collapse, the second edit argues here

In the second part of his series on Universal Basic Income, Pranab Bardhan explains why it should be viewed as a means of relieving economic insecurity, not economic inequality. Read it here

Made-in-India solar panels may not be the most competitive, but what might work in India’s favour is the strategic shift in the priorities of companies post-Covid, says Vandana Gombar. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Mamata Ji, you referred to Shramik Special Trains as ‘Corona Express’. The name that you have given… will become an exit express for TMC. You’ve insulted migrant workers… and they will not forget it”

Home Minister Amit Shah